Shopper Research: HMV Store Layout

Recently a very different type of consumer appeared at HMV stores in Tokyo and Yokohama. Sporting the latest technology for shopper research, Consumer Vision Goggles, thirty-two consumers entered the stores one by one. They then drifted around the DVD section for fifteen minutes each, before emerging with their movie purchases.

As a result of this research HMV, one of the largest retailers of music and video in Japan, is now revamping the way the company sells DVDs and what HMV calls "sight sensitive" stores are being rolled out across country...with positive results for the business.

The need for better product displays

The starting point for this Shopper Research project was a U&A study conducted by JMI, via the Internet, for HMV. Segmentation analysis identified that two key target groups of consumers, named "active searchers" and "brand switchers" had significant concerns regarding the layout of HMV stores and the ease with which they were able to find products while shopping in HMV compared with other stores.

Up until this point, HMV had traditionally relied upon the experience and instincts of its store managers and buyers to create product layouts. However, according to HMV Senior Manager David Brown, "we needed input on consumer psychology and shopping patterns" in order to boost store sales even higher.

The practice at HMV stores had been to arrange DVDs with their spine labels facing outwards. This made it somewhat difficult for customers to read the movies' titles. Following the U&A study a new layout was developed and piloted at the Shinjuku store in Tokyo.

This new layout involved displaying DVDs by their covers, so that consumers could more easily identify both the movies and their themes. In addition, large in-store advertisements (POPs) for promoted items were placed within consumers' line of vision.

The research solution

Next, HMV Japan needed to validate these changes to their store layout. JMI's Consumer Vision Goggles (CVG) was selected as the approach.

CVG comprises of a micro digital video camera integrated into conventional glasses. The movements and line of vision of shoppers are captured and relayed to a computer via a wireless transmitter. This video data is then meticulously analyzed to identify how visual behavior drives shopping behavior.

Two locations were selected for the CVG study: the Shinjuku store which was piloting the new layout and the Yokohama store that was still using the old displays. CVG in combination with conventional interviews were then used to uncover differences in consumer behavior - both with respect to DVD layout and to the use of improved POP.

At the Yokohama store, it was found that there was a greater tendency for shoppers to pick up DVD titles in their hands and to examine them carefully. More often than not the DVDs were then replaced before shoppers moved on to browse other movies. In fact the layout of the DVDs was reducing consumers' inclination to purchase on impulse, while increasing their tendency to be discriminating before committing to buy.

In contrast, among customers at the Shinjuku store, where DVDs were displayed by their covers, there was a much higher conversion rate i.e. an increased tendency among those who picked up any given DVD to actually purchase it.

Differences were also seen in the level of appeal of promoted items. At the Yokohama store, three to four items would be piled up together, each having its own explanatory POP placed within customers' line of vision. However, this clutter was resulting in perceptual overload - simply too much information for consumers to process within a given amount of time. Essentially the POP advertisements were being wasted.

In contrast, at the Shinjuku store each POP was blown up three to four times its original size. Written information was summarized and printed using larger font sizes, etc. As a result target consumers who remembered the promotional items far outnumbered those at the Yokohama store.

It works!

The good news for HMV Japan is the sales at the Shinjuku store, post-redesign, are now running at a level of twice those at the Yokohama store! As a result, HMV will be upgrading the DVD sections in stores nationwide to the new "sight sensitive" store layout by the end of September.

Overall HMV is looking to increase its sales by 30% this year. Effective store layout and product display is putting the company well on-track to achieving this ambitious goal.

This case study is based on an article that appeared in the Nikkei Marketing Journal (MJ) on August 24th. For more information on Consumer Vision Goggles (CVG) please contact Jeff Matsui: Contact Us